A Happy 4th of July Menu.

Okay, so it’s not the 4th YET but plans are being made, groceries are getting bought and recipes are being searched for.  To help you in your ‘Best 4th Ever’ quest, I’m sharing my menu and a few tips and tricks.

1. Appetizers – I like to keep the appetizers simple.  There’s enough to do, don’t you think?  A simple veggie tray, chips and salsa,  pretzels and pub cheese.  Done and done.
2. Main Dish(es) – We keep it traditional in this house.  Hot dogs, hamburgers (made with a burger press), brats (boiled in beer first).  The usual. This year, however, I’m going to twist it a little with toppings.  For the burgers, I am going to make spicy mayo (mayo w/a little Tabasco),  saute mushrooms, saute onions, make guacamole and fry up some bacon.  For the hot dogs and brats, I am going to saute peppers and serve with fun cheeses and rolls.  Think of it as the sundae bar for a BBQ. 🙂
3. Sides – Corn on the cob.  Check out this You Tube video on how to shuck corn.   Super easy.   A new pasta salad I found, Spicy Pasta Salad with Smoked Gouda, Tomatoes and Basil.  This recipe is by one of my fave cooks, Ree Drummond (a.k.a. The Pioneer Woman).  I also found a recipe by Robert Irvine called, Bacon-and-Egg Potato Salad.  Need I say more.  The title says it all.  I canNOT wait to try this.   Plus it doesn’t look complicated.  Bonus.   We will serve easy stuff too… chips, fruit salad, etc…
4. Desserts –   By request of my five-year old, I will be making Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries.  I found this recipe on Pinterest and it actually turned out just liked it looked.   I am also going to make traditional chocolate chip cookies.  My favorite choco chip cookie recipe ever is on the back of a package of Trader Joe’s chocolate chips.  Trader Joes’ Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.  For some reason this only has three stars.  Wrong. wrong. wrong.  These are amazing.  So says me!  I do sprinkle with a little sea salt before cooking.  Delish!

I think that’s it!  So hungry for this stuff now!  Share with everyone what you will be cooking this 4th.

Have a wonderful 4th of July everyone.

Happy BBQ’ing!!

Happy National Pie Day!

Happy National Pie Day everyone!!!

Check out this pie recipe from Ree Drummond (The Pioneer Woman).   Click on ‘Best Pie Ever’ to get to the recipe.

Fun Fact:  You put the pecans on the bottom and they rise to the top while baking.

Best Pie Ever!

Clearly too late in the day to celebrate now BUT you could celebrate on Saturday!

Happy baking!

P.S. If you don’t follow The Pioneer Woman, you should. 🙂

Holiday Cooking 4.0 (Desserts!!)

Waldorf Salad

Paula Deen’s Butter Cake

Pumpkin Roll

Pecan Pie

Pumpkin Pie

At long last, we are ONE day away from Thanksgiving!! I hope that you are all ready, the turkey is thawed and you are ready to cook! I didn’t want to end my Thanksgiving tips and tricks week without a blog about desserts.

So here goes…. here are my a few of my favorite recipes (click on the recipe name to get to the recipe):

1. Pumpkin Pie! Of course pumpkin pie has to be at the top of the list! This is, by far, my favorite pumpkin pie recipe! This recipe, from AllRecipes is for a classic pumpkin pie. The only change that I make is that I omit the ginger (not a fan) and add a little pumpkin spice seasoning. I love an intense pumpkin flavor. Top with whip cream! Delicious!

2. Pecan Pie What would a Thanksgiving be without a good pecan pie. I like the recipe (from the Pioneer Woman) because it is a traditional pumpkin pie. No bells. No whistles. Just good old-fashioned pecan pie. and really do we need an extravagant pecan pie??

3. Butter Cake.. My Mom loved to make this recipe! I do attempt to make this at least once a year. It is tough. It takes work. If the pumpkin cake cracks when rolling, I usually just use the frosting to help cover it. You want to roll very slow. If you can pull this off though, it looks very impressive. 🙂

4. Butter Cake .  Aaahh. Butter cake. Gooey yummy butter cake. This is one of Paula Deen‘s best recipes. If you have not ever had this, you simply have to make this. Wow. I do not alter this recipe in any way. Really not sure what else to say. Cook it!

5. Waldorf Salad Waldorf salad seems to be an acquired taste but I love it!! This is my basic tried and true recipe. A dessert table without a bowl of Waldorf salad just seems incomplete.

6. Apple Pie – Okay, I know I should include an apple pie recipe but I just don’t dig apple pie. I don’t want to lead you astray. I can’t recommend a recipe that I haven’t tried. So…if you have an apple pie recipe that you would like to share, please do.

Also, I found THE best step by step directions to the perfect pie crust on the Pioneer Woman’s site. Click on the link below for tips on how to make the perfect crust. There are even pictures for every step.

Perfect Pie Crust

This is just a sampling of the many, many desserts that are perfect for Thanksgiving but I need to end this short and get baking. Oh wait, we are at a water park right now. No baking for me today. Just water slides 🙂

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!

Holiday Cooking 3.0 (Side Dishes!)

Happy ‘almost’  Thanksgiving!  The count down to Thanksgiving continues.  Today’s blog is focused on the often pushed to the side but NEVER overlooked side dish.  Raise your hand if you could eat a whole plate of sides and ditch the Turkey… I’m typing with one hand now. 🙂   Here are a few of my favorite side dishes.  I love these recipes because they comfort, they aren’t complex and remind me of a traditional Thanksgiving filled with familiarity.  I just don’t like to venture to outside the norm on this day of all days.

Cheesy Potatoes.

Yummy Sweet Potatoes.

Creamed Spinach.

Stuffing.

Mashed Potatoes.

Scalloped Corn.

1. Scalloped Corn – I love a simple recipe sometimes.  I am a proponent of mixing complex recipes with the more simple recipes so that I’m not losing my mind doing twelve things at once.  This recipe from allrecipes has very few ingredients, very little prep time and is always a crowd pleaser.   ***Note-I do leave out the sugar.  This recipe just doesn’t need it.  Especially if you are using a boxed corn bread such as Jiffy.  In my opinion, there is enough sugar already in boxed corn bread.
2. Mashed Potatoes – Ok, so we all know how to make mashed potatoes, right??  Well, there are mashed potatoes and there are MASHED POTATOES.  This recipe from the Pioneer Woman is crazy good.  Sooooo unhealthy .. I mean filled with the yummiest of ingredients.  Wow.  Really.  All I can say is wow.
3. Stuffing –  This recipe from cooks.com is one of my favorites because I love a stuffing recipe that includes sausage and yummy fall spices like sage and thyme.    This takes a bit of prep work but is worth every second!
4. Creamed Spinach – This recipe makes me feel like maybe I’m getting something green and healthy on Thanksgiving.  Although it is doused in so much creaminess that I’m sure it’s being canceled out but let’s not talk about that. 🙂
5. Sweet Potato Casserole – This allrecipe recipe is so decadent that every time I eat it, I question if it should be a side dish or a dessert.  It is truly like eating a yummy dessert.  I ALWAYS go back for second helpings of this and there is never any left after everyone has gone home.  I don’t make any changes to this recipe.
6. Cheesy Potatoes – This is the ultimate in comfort food.   This recipe was given to me by my bestie. Crazy easy.  I do heat the potatoes in the microwave for about 10 minutes before mixing with the other ingredients and if you really want to get crazy, top the casserole with corn flakes to add a little crunch.

Good grief.  I need to get the gym quick.  I need to bank about 3,000 calories for Thursday.  Is that possible?  🙂

Stay tuned!  Tomorrow’s blog… Desserts!!

Holiday Cooking 1.0 (Appetizers)

Happy ‘almost’  Thanksgiving!  As with the Halloween recipes that I posted last month, I am continuing my quest for a tasty Holiday season for all of you.  Today we are going to start at the beginning…. Appetizers.

Individual Seven-Layer Dips

Caprese Appetizer

Mini Florentine Cups

Goat Cheese with Fresh Dill

Fruit Salsa

Jalepeno Popper Dip

1. Jalepeno Popper Dip– This recipe is soooo good, easy and can be made ahead of time.  Need I say more? Well, sort of…  **note I put this in my mini-crockpot to keep warm and have served with pita chips and tortilla chips.  Both were equally good.  Well, any chip/cracker will really just end up serving as a vehicle for this amazing little dip.  They don’t matter.  Just the dip. 🙂
2. Fruit Salsa – This recipe is one of the top apps on All Recipes.  Every single time that I have made this, someone has asked me for the recipe.  It is always a hit.  It is a fresh, lighter than most other appetizers, recipe.  You could tailor this recipe to fit whatever fruits are in season but I don’t usually deviate too much from the recipe.  Also, this recipe does call for making your own cinnamon tortilla chips.  It’s simply not worth the effort for me personally.  I buy Stacy’s Cinnamon Pita Chips and they work perfectly.  (**note- more often than not, Stacy’s pita chips are somewhere in or near the produce section.  They are rarely in the chip aisle)
3. Goat Cheese with Fresh Dill – Two steps.  Done and done.  I adore goat cheese.  I especially adore this recipe by The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond.  I love this recipe because you really need to balance easy and complex appetizers so that you aren’t going crazy trying to do too much.  This for sure falls into the ‘easy’ category.
4. Mini Florentine Cups – This is a simple, cheap recipe from Kraft.  I made this years ago and it’s always a hit.
5. Caprese Appetizer – Love, love, love Carprese in general.  Love the portability of these.  You and your guests (note that I said ‘you’, you need to enjoy your yummy appetizers too!).  Again, another easy recipe that you don’t have to spend a ton of time on but looks like you did.  🙂
6. Individual Seven-Layer Dips – I haven’t made these yet but saw them on Pinterest and thought they were brilliant!